The New York University Men's Basketball Team improved to a 2-0 record with a 73-56 win over Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, NY, on Tuesday, November 10 in their first road game of the season.
The Violets got off to a strong start, pulling out to an early 15-8 lead midway through the first half and went into intermission up 32-22. Reigning University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Week Bobby Hawkinson (Frankfort, IL/Marist) led all scorers with 10 points going into the break, as the team put on an impressive shooting performance going 14-of-29 (48.2%) from the field in the first half.
NYU continued to roll in the second half, building on their double-digit lead and entering the last 10 minutes of the game ahead by 17 (57-40).
The Violets took a game-high 21 point lead with 5:34 left on a jump shot from forward Alex Maticiuc (Monaco, Monte-Carlo/St. Thomas More School (Montville, CT)), who contributed 17 points to the winning effort.
"I was out early in the game with two fouls and just had to stay locked in," said Maticiuc. "We made a really strong push to keep a gap between us and Farmingdale State."
Hawkinson finished the game just the way he started, leading all scorers with 21 points to go along with 15 rebounds for his second-straight double-double to open his senior campaign.
Rookie Zay Freeney (Phoenix, AZ/South Mountain) joined Hawkinson and Maticuic in double-figures, totaling 11 points and two assists in a great team shooting effort where NYU finished 29-of-56 (51.8%) from the field.
Ten Violets scored in a balanced performance on both ends of the floor, with NYU also limiting Farmingdale State to 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field.
"I'm really proud of our entire team for putting together a thorough performance", said Head Coach Dagan Nelson. "The guys did a great job to hold Farmingdale to under 30% shooting from the three point line, as well as under 40% from the floor overall."
The Violets will look to continue building on their early-season momentum in the first game of this weekend's NYU Tip-Off Tournament. NYU takes on Pratt Institute on Saturday, November 13, for a 5 pm tip at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.
